Nutrition Q&A: How to prevent obesity in children

Nutrition and Dietetics expert, Parvathy Radhakrishnan answers readers’ questions on nutrition. Get your doubts cleared and see them featured on our FAQ page every Wednesday.

This week’s answers:

1. Hello Mam, I am Harish Shahi, My age is 25 and my height is 5 feet 9 inch and my weight si 80 KG. Mam I got heart attack two years back and I am taking medicines also. My doctor is saying to reduce weight. I am gaining weight progressively however I have reduced my diet 3-4 months back. Presently I take 250 GM milk with an apple in the breakfast some time poha I take.Then in the lunch I take 2-3 chapati with green vegetable and in the night I take 2-3 chapati.
I don’t use gee and any other oily things.
Mam Please suggest how to reduce weight.
Harish Shahi
Harish, please follow the diet given here

Breakfast – oats, branflakes, ragi or poha with 250ml fat free milk and an apple.
Lunch – 2 whole wheat chapatis phulka with salad , any beans/dal 1/2 cup , fat free curds 1/2 cup
followed by a fruit (guava or orange) couple of hours later.
Dinner – same as dinner.
Vary the fruits, vegetables and legumes. You may need to be physically active too to reduce weight, but please check with your doctor on how much you can exercise. Walking at a comfortable pace is the safest exercise. Avoid snacking on fried stuff between meals.Please update me on your progress after 2 weeks.

2, Dear Sir/Madam Am Having Daughter 4+ Years She is overweight 28 Kgs We already Done T3,TSH ,sugar all test reports are ok.
Please Suggest Diet chart & Daily activities for her so that She can be Fit & Healthy.
Height :
Weight : 28 Kgs
Age : 4+years
Location : Ghaziabad/UP
Thanks & Best Regards
Anubhav
If a child is overweight, then the cooking and eating habits of parents are most often the culprit. Do send me a food history of your daughter so that I can correct her menu for you. Meanwhile, start cooking low fat foods at home, serve only grilled foods most often and keep fried foods to a minimum every week. Dont even buy things like chocolates, chips, fast foods, soft drinks and such stuff that are unhealthy for the child. You need to set example for her to pursue exercises. Take her to a park where she can play frisbee, or skipping, or simple hopping, and any of the numerous games children at her age play. Encourage out door activities, at school too, and restrict indoor sedentary activities including TV.
Never reward her with food. Do not sugar her drinks or food.

3. Hi, my age is 30.My weight is 100 and height is 5″4.I regularly do my excersise for half hour even then i am not lossing my weight,also i take a proper planed diet by a dietition. I have done a chekup by doctor and all my reports are normal
(FHS,LH,LFT,PROLACTIN,FT4,THS,TC,TG,HDL,LDL,F,PP,A1C,25(OH)DTHYROID,URIC
ACID) Now what should i do for lossing weight.I even suffer from body
and back pain.
Sweety
Sweety, you need to exercise for at least 45 minutes 5 times a week to reduce weight. If you are following a calorie restricted diet already, then simply increasing exercise will help you reduce weight.

Send in your questions on nutrition to bawarchieditor@sify.com now! And don’t forget to include `Nutrition FAQ` in the subject line. Please provide complete details of your age, sex, height, weight, location and medication if any, if a diet is required for specific ailments.